Toy figures



Oct. 30, 1962 F. COLLISCHAN 3,060,630

TOY FIGURES Filed May 21, 1959 INVENTOR FRITZ COLLISCHAN BYMZWM ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice Patented Oct. 30, 1962 3,060,630 TOY FTGURES Fritz Collischan, Nurnherg, Germany, assignor to Georg Kiihler, Toy and Hardware Factory, Nurnberg, Germany, a firm Filed May 21, 1959, Ser. No. 814,797 Ciaims priority, application Germany Feb. 25, 1959 7 Claims. (Cl. 46-98) The present invention relates to a toy figure, particularly a figure representing a duck.

According to the invention the toy figure is provided with a driving mechanism such as a clockwork motor and equipped with devices which considerably add to the attraction or interest of the toy. The toy duck according to the invention carries out movements imitating those of the actual bird in a very realistic manner. These movements include the opening and closing of the beak and a movement of the wings peculiar to the bird when walking as well as reproducing the manner of advancing which is particularly remarkable in the case of ducks, namely the waddling movement. in addition a sound-producing device imitating very realistically the quacking noise made by a duck, becomes operative during the opening and closing of the beak.

The various functions of the toy figure are controlled by a driving mechanism such as a clockwork motor arranged inside the body which effects all the movements including that for operating the soundproducing device through the intermediary of a pair of control disks or cams. Thereby the drive for the displacement of the toy is so controlled that the toy duck closes its beak and flaps its wings when the sound-producing device is actually operating, while on the other hand the mechanism effecting these movements and operating the sound-producing device are still when the toy duck moves forward.

The forward movement is attained by two mutually displaced cam-shaped runner wheels mounted on the runner axle. The runner wheel axle is driven by one of the pair of control disks which is constructed as a toothed wheel only on a portion of its circumference.

The pair of control disks drive a shaft which on the one hand efiects the flapping of the wings through the intermediary of swing levers and on the other hand operates the sound-producing device and a part of the beak through the intermediary of a double cam arranged on this shaft.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one embodiment illustrated schematically and by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a toy duck in side elevation;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the driving mechanism when the duck is in the position shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 2 but seen from the other side, and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the pair of disks and the pinion meshing therewith.

The toy figure consists of a housing 1 representing the body of a duck on which the lower part 2 of the beak is hinged and the Wings 3 can swing about the axis 3a.

The housing 5 of a driving mechanism such as a clockwork motor is fixed on a bottom plate 4 of the toy. This mechanism is conventional and comprises a spiral spring serving as source of power, the spring being attached at one end to the winding arbor 6 and at the other end to the housing 5.

A toothed wheel 7 mounted on the arbor 6 drives a shaft 16 carrying a star wheel through the intermediary of a gear train comprising toothed wheels 8, 9 and 10 and pinions 11, 12 and 13 secured to the same shafts as gears 8, 9 and 10, respectively, and through pinion 14 on shaft 16. This gear train drives star wheel 15 from gear 7 at a greatly increased speed. When the toy figure quacks, the sound-producing tongue 17 is brought to bear against the star wheel 15 which plucks the end of the tongue. This tongue 17 is mounted on a sound producing body 18 consisting of a flat box and a diaphragm and is disclosed in greater detail in my copending application Serial No. 814,799, filed May 21, 1959.

The axle 6 carries a pair of disks 19 and 20* which are so constructed that the disk 11 has two sectors of different forms, for example two semicircles with different radii, and the disk 21) is provided with teeth 21 on, for example, half its circumference. The two disks are arranged side by side so that the smaller radius of the disk 19 registers with or extends over the region of the teeth 21 of the disk 20 whereas the larger radius of the disk 19 covers the relatively smaller non-serrated portion of the circumference of the disk 20.

A pinion 23 mounted on an axle 22 of the clockwork is so wide that it contacts the two disks 1 9 and 20. Some of the teeth of the pinion 23 are omitted or cut away in the region of the disk 19 so that the larger radius of the disk 19 can slide over the flat cut-away face of the pinion. By this arrangement the turning of the axle 22 will be blocked when the teeth 21 of the disk 20 are out of mesh with the pinion 23.

The two earn-shaped runner wheels 24 are mounted mutually displaced through an angle of on the axle 22. By constructing the runner wheels in this manner the waddling movement peculiar to a duck is imparted.

Another pinion 25, similar to the pinion 23, is mounted on an axle 26 and also meshes with the disks 19 and 20' but on the opposite side of the disks from shaft 22. The drive for the wings and the beak movements as well as for the sound-producing device are derived from this axle 26. The wings are driven by a star wheel 27 cooperating with swing lever 2-9 loaded by a spring. A latterally extending finger 29a on lever 29 extends into the path of movement of the points on star-wheel 27, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, whereby rotation of the star-wheel causes oscillation of lever 29. The lever 29 (FIG. 2) is fixed on an axle 34} which carries another swing lever 31 at the other side of this figure, see FIGURE 3. The connection between the levers 29 and 3?]. and the wings 3 is preferably effected by an intermediate element such as a tension spring 32. The wings are mounted in the housing so that they can swing or flap.

A double toe cam 33 is mounted on the axle 26, which cam strikes against a portion 34 of a carrier plate 35 for the body 18 of the isoundaproducing device. Plate 35' is pivotally supported on a horizontal axis at its right end as shown in FiG. 2 or at its left end as seen in FIG. 3. As the beak movement preferably coincides with the production of sound, a rod system 38 is mounted on the body '18 of the sound producing device and controls the opening and closing of the lower part 2 of the beak through the intermediary of a connecting member 37, in that this connecting member 37 engages a lug 36 arranged inside the lower part 2 of the beak. Thus the closing of the lower part of the beak takes place in the direction of the arrow Z when the body of the sound-producing device is swung about the axle 26 in the direction of the arrow X.

When the driving mechanism is started up, the following operation takes place:

The toothed wheel 7 mounted on the winding arbor 6 drives the star wheel 15 through the intermediary of the toothed wheels 8, 9 and 1t} and their respective pinions 11, 12, 13 and 14. This star wheel serves for plucking the tongue 17 in the body 18 of the sound-producing device. At the same time the pair of controlling disks 19 and 20, which are also mounted on the winding arbor 6, are rotated. These disks come alternately into mesh with the pinions 23 and 25 so that when the toothed portion 21 meshes with the pinion 23 the cam shaped runner wheels 24 rotate and set the toy in movement, Whereas when the toothed part meshes with the pinion 25 the axle 26 is rotated and double cam 33 mounted on the same axle lifts the carrier plate 35 of the body 18 of the soundproducing device, thereby moving the body 18 into the dotted-line position of FIG. 2, with the result that the tongue 17 is brought out of contact with the star wheel and a star wheel 27 likewise mounted on the axle 26 moves the lever arms 29 and 31 up and down causing the wings 3 to swing or flap.

The disc comprises a form of mutilated gear which drives the pinions 22 and in alternate sequence, and the disc 19 comprises blocking means rotating with the gear 20 to hold the inactive pinion against rotation. It will also be understood that the star wheel 27 which effects operation of the wings 3 is a form of cam element which acts through the follower members 29, 30 and 31 and effects oscillations of the wings 3 at a greater rate than the cam element 33 oscillates the beak 2 and the sound box 18.

I claim:

1. A toy figure representing a bird and formed of a body portion having a movable part mounted thereon for oscillating movement with respect to the body and representing a movable body member of the bird, propulsion means carried by the lower part of the body portion for effecting ambulatory movement of the figure, driving means contained within the body comprising a rotary drive shaft, a mutilated gear mounted on said shaft and having teeth extending over only a portion of its periphery, a pair of pinions mounted to be driven by said gear in alternate sequence, means for driving said propulsion means from one of said pinions, and operating means actuated by the other pinion to effect a number of oscillations of said movable part during each period of operation of said other pinion.

2. A toy figure according to claim 1 wherein said movable part comprises two wing parts pivoted to said body portion, and said operating means comprises a cam element driven by said other pinion and having a follower connected to effect oscillation of said wing parts.

3. A toy figure according to claim 1 wherein said movable part comprises a beak part pivoted to said body portion, and said operating means comprises a cam element driven by said other pinion and having a follower connected to effect oscillation of said beak part.

4. A toy figure according to claim 1 wherein said movable part comprises a beak part pivoted to said body portion and being operated by said operating means between open and closed positions, a sound-producing device mounted within said body portion, and actuating means controlled by said other pinion for effecting operation of said sound-producing device during the times when said beak part is in open position.

5. A toy figmre according to claim 4, wherein said soundproducing device includes a vibratory tongue and a starwheel for plucking said tongue, said tongue and starwheel normally being out of operative engagement, a speed-multiplying gear train driving said star-wheel from said drive shaft, and said actuating means being operative to effect operative engagement between said tongue and said star-wheel and thereby effect plucking of the tongue when the beak part is open.

6. A toy figure according to claim 5 wherein said sound producing device comprises a sound box containing said vibratory tongue and being mounted for pivotal movement whereby the tongue can be disengaged from said starwheel by operation of said actuating means.

7. A toy figure according to claim 2 and including a tension spring in the operating connection between said cam follower and said Wing parts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,151,220 Scherling Aug. 24, 1915 1,461,579 Grimes July 10, 1923 2,013,709 Boissoneau Sept. 10, 1935 2,596,216 Dawson May 13, 1952 2,668,391 Huard et al Feb. 9, 1954 

